TCM Schedule for Thursday, November 15 -- What's on Tonight: Bob's Picks

[Staph]

A day of murder mysteries and an evening of Robert Osborne's favorites. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a murder tied to a Long Island dog show.
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Cast: William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette
BW-73 mins, TV-G, CC,

Dr Doremus' repeated line "I'm a Doctor not a..." was later used as the catchphrase of DeForest Kelley's character Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy on the sci-series Star Trek.


8:00 AM -- The Woman In White (1948)
Classic mystery about the adventures of a young tutor sent to a ghostly country estate.
Dir: Peter Godfrey
Cast: Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet
BW-109 mins, TV-G, CC,

Wilkie Collins' 'The Woman in White' published in 1860, is considered to be the first modern mystery employing a crime-detecting hero.


10:00 AM -- The Mask Of Dimitrios (1944)
A meek novelist investigates the mysterious death of a notorious scoundrel.
Dir: Jean Negulesco
Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson
BW-96 mins, TV-PG, CC,

First film of Zachary Scott.


12:00 PM -- Green For Danger (1946)
A police inspector investigates an operating room death that may be murder.
Dir: Sidney Gilliat
Cast: Trevor Howard,
BW-91 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Based on a novel by Christianna Brand.


2:00 PM -- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman's older husband.
Dir: Tay Garnett
Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway
BW-113 mins, TV-PG, CC,

It took 12 years to adapt the explicit material (by 1940 standards) of the novel into a screenplay tame enough to comply with the Production Code prevalent at the time.


4:00 PM -- A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
Dir: Gerd Oswald
Cast: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith
C-95 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format

Remade in 1991, starring Matt Dillon, with Sean Young as the two sisters.


6:00 PM -- Strangers On A Train (1951)
A man's joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker
BW-101 mins, TV-PG, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Robert Burks

This is the movie that determined the location of Carol Burnett's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1951, she was working as an usher when this film was playing at the Warner Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. A couple arrived late, and Burnett, having already seen the film, advised them that it was a wonderful film that should be seen from the very beginning. The manager of the theatre very rudely fired her for this. Years later, when Carol Burnett was asked where she would like to have her star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she requested that it be placed in front of that theatre.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: BOB'S PICKS



8:00 PM -- The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
Musical biography of the backwoods girl who struck it rich in Colorado and survived the Titanic.
Dir: Charles Walters
Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley
C-129 mins, TV-G, CC, Letterbox Format

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Debbie Reynolds, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color -- George W. Davis, E. Preston Ames, Henry Grace and Hugh Hunt, Best Cinematography, Color -- Daniel L. Fapp, Best Costume Design, Color -- Morton Haack, Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment -- Robert Armbruster, Leo Arnaud, Jack Elliott, Jack Hayes, Calvin Jackson and Leo Shuken, and Best Sound -- Franklin Milton (M-G-M SSD)

The story of J.J. Brown accidentally burning his money after Molly hid it in the stove didn't really happen. It was made up by a Denver journalist after Molly Brown became a hero on the Titanic. When asked by her daughter why she didn't refute the false story, Molly Brown supposedly replied, "It's better that they write *something* about me than nothing." (Kathy Bates, as Molly Brown, repeats the story in James Cameron's Titanic.) Molly Brown is also said to have reported the story with a slightly different ending. Molly did hide money in the potbelly stove in their Leadville cabin, and Johnny unknowingly started a fire on a particularly cold night. That's in keeping with the other version, but the end of the story, as told by Molly and reported in newspapers interviews during her lift, was a little different. Her addition was "Just think if it had been paper money!" The "money" was gold and silver coin which melted and melted to the stove. Miners didn't trust paper money in those years. The stove had to be broken apart and resmelted to separate the iron, gold and silver.


10:15 PM -- Babes in Arms (1939)
A group of second-generation entertainers puts on a show to launch their careers.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Charles Winninger
BW-96 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Mickey Rooney, and Best Music, Scoring -- Roger Edens and George Stoll

MGM Studio's biggest money grosser of 1939, surpassing The Wizard of Oz for that production year.


12:00 AM -- The Admirable Crichton (1957)
When a family is shipwrecked on a desert island, their butler comes to the rescue.
Dir: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Kenneth More, Diane Cilento, Cecil Parker
C-94 mins, TV-PG,

The original Broadway production of "The Admirable Crichton" by J.M. Barrie opened at the Lyceum Theater on November 17, 1903, ran for 144 performances with William Gillette {famous for his Sherlock Holmes plays and portrayal} in the title role. The play was revived on Broadway in 1931.


1:45 AM -- Wicked As They Come (1957)
A ruthless woman takes advantage of gullible men to climb up the social ladder.
Dir: Ken Hughes
Cast: Arlene Dahl, Phil Carey, Herbert Marshall
BW-95 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format

Based on a novel by Bill S. Ballenger.


3:30 AM -- Three Little Words (1950)
Musical biography of songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, who surreptitiously helped each other out of jams.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Fred Astaire, Red Skelton, Vera-Ellen
C-102 mins, TV-G, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- André Previn

Mrs. Carter DeHaven, a Broadway star, introduced the song "Who's Sorry Now". In the film Gloria DeHaven recreates her mother singing it.


5:30 AM -- MGM Parade Show #17 (1955)
Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller perform in a clip from "The Kissing Bandit"; George Murphy introduces a clip from "Diane." Hosted by George Murphy.
BW-26 mins, TV-G,